Tears of Twilight
by Frank Hunter
Summary: Book 2 of the Gerudo Legacy Series. Rigo has earned his place as King of Gerudo, but his trials are only beginning. Now, his people are being plagued by a strange illness, and there seems to be no cure. Furthermore, Hyrule's Queen Zelda has asked for Gerudo support against a new terrorist threat calling itself the 'Tears of Twilight.' Will Rigo be able to help both nations survive?
1. Call to Action

_Author's Note:_ Tears of Twilight _is set as a direct sequel to my previous story, _The Waters of Nayru. _If you have not read _Waters_ yet, I would suggest navigating to my author page and starting the story there. Several events, characters, and themes are carried over into this book, and it is better to start at the beginning._

_If you _have_ read _The Waters of Nayru,_ then you are already one of my favorite people. Thank you so much for the support so far, and this story is for you!_

* * *

**Tears of Twilight  
Chapter 1: Call to Action  
**By, Frank Hunter

It's a murky, overcast morning in Hyrule Castle Town, one of those where the sun never quite rises and you can only tell that it's day because of the murky, gray light on the horizon. Regardless of the gloom, the roosters begin to crow, evidently having been left out of the loop about the missing sunrise. The people of Castle Town awaken and prepare to begin their day as though it is like any other. However, when they pull on their coats and hats and step out into the frigid winter air, they invariably notice something very out of the ordinary on this morning.

In the streets and alleys of Castle Town, plastered on every door and window, scattered on every square of pavement, there are copies of a printed flyer. Its message makes the cold morning even colder, and its abundance makes it impossible to just ignore it or throw it away. Though many citizens try to do just that and continue on with their routine, for many others, the message gets through. And it is a message of dangerous sentiment and looming dread. For a war has begun for the minds and loyalties of the people of Hyrule, and soon they will all need to choose a side.

* * *

/\  
/\ /\

***** CITIZENS OF HYRULE*****

The Time Has Come to  
**Open Your Eyes!**

The Crimes of this Royal Government Have Gone Unpunished for Far Too Long  
Crimes Including:

- Unfair and unacceptable taxation  
- Misrepresentation in government  
- The **MURDER of 4,000+ PEOPLE** through an inability to prevent **TWO GANONDORF WARS  
** - The **DEATHS** of **437** of **YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS** in a POINTLESS battle over the FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH  
- A REFUSAL to be held accountable for the actions of the Crown

**When will the killing end?  
****NEVER!**

Not while we continue to be led by a SENILE OLD CRONE, her SPOILED POMPOUS SON, or any other member of this privileged, disconnected ROYAL FAMILY!

The **DAY OF RECKONING** is Coming, and It Will Be Here Before Long!  
Only One Question Remains…

When the **TEARS OF TWILIGHT **Fall  
Will **YOU** **STAND **Beside the **PEOPLE**?


	2. New Gerudo

**Tears of Twilight  
Chapter 2: New Gerudo  
**By, Frank Hunter

"To be honest, Your Highness, we're excited. No, more than that. We're very excited."

Rigo looked up from the table in front of him at the man that sat across the way. The man had one of those pleasant, jovial faces that was capable of sucking a person in and getting them to lower their guard. It made you like the man without needing any real reason, and in turn, be more enthused about working with him. In short, it was an excellent face for a politician.

This politician in particular was an important man in his own right. His name was Jean Bennet, and as the Prime Minister of Jirin, he was a diplomat that Rigo was finding himself spending more and more time with. The room, which, in their early discussions, had been filled with bodyguards of both races, now only contained the two leaders, a pair of diplomats who sat silently beside Bennet, and one Gerudo woman, Karenn, Rigo's second-in-command, who sat with him. The relationship between the two nations had begun not quite as hostile, but strained at least, mostly due to the revolution Gerudo had underwent seven years prior. But a series of pleasant talks and cooperation had helped to set everyone at ease, and now the men had a very decent rapport going, if not an actual companionship with one another.

As the neighboring province to New Gerudo, Jirin was the primary source of trade and commerce for Rigo's people, the Gerudo, and as King, it had fallen to him to maintain a pleasant, symbiotic relationship with these people. And he played his part, though Rigo really knew that the _Gerudo_ had the upper hand in this relationship. The trade goods and foods they brought in from Jirin were welcome, no doubt about it, but it was nothing compared to what they _gave back _in return. As an entirely female race, with Rigo as the sole exception, the Gerudo relied on the neighboring populations entirely for the species' procreation. And the men of Jirin took full advantage of that reliance.

Granted, this was a dependency that ensured the survival of his entire race, but if the relationship between their peoples was to dry up, the Jirin would be the ones griping about it in the short term. It would only be over the course of a generation, if the Gerudo could not find another suitable race to mingle with, that they would begin to face problems.

Due to recent developments though, that whole point be becoming moot. Rigo wasn't sure they'd need the Jirin at all before very long. And all of it had to do with what this man was grinning about now.

"I don't blame you," Rigo said, smiling back as authentically as he was able. "A relationship with other outside countries can be positive in all sorts of ways."

"What did you say the state was called again?" Bennet asked him.

"Hyrule," Rigo answered.

Bennet repeated the word, nodding and seeming to play with the texture of it in his mouth.

Jirin had traditionally been an isolated country, much like Hyrule had always been and still was. It was only due to the Ganondorf War, which turned the people of Hyrule against the Gerudo and forced them to flee across the desert, that his people had discovered there even _were_ other races to be found. Since Jirin was discovered on the other side of the desert, there had been a lot of debate and wonderment on just how big the world really was, but Rigo chose to save those discussions for less occupied minds. He wasn't interested in pressing further out into the world. He was more interested in turning back, and it was only now beginning to look as though it were really possible to do so.

"And it's a two-week journey through the desert? You've made it yourself?" Bennet asked

"Three or four if you're traveling heavy," Rigo said. "But yeah, I've made it." His mind went back to the disastrous journey he'd taken as a child, when he and Amili had innocently enough made their way back to Hyrule and had gotten caught up in a desperate battle to take control of the Waters of Nayru, a sort of mythological Fountain of Youth that had turned out to be all too real. Since then, he'd made the journey several times.

"But you've found some way to circumvent that?" Bennet asked.

"We have. There's a technique we've recently discovered. Makes it possible to make the trip in the blink of an eye." Rigo said.

Bennet nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, that is phenomenal! May I ask how it's done?"

Rigo smiled again. "Magic."

The prime minister laughed at what he thought was a joke. "Very well then, keep your secrets. I have to admit, Rigo, it's been a never-ending source of curiosity. Where your people came from, what else was there. We'd never gotten close enough with your predecessor, uhm…"

"Amili?" Rigo supplied.

"Yes, and the other one. The rigid one."

"Sooru."

"Well, neither of them seemed as interested as you are in pursuing a mutual relationship here. And I _would_ be cross about the withholding of this kind of information, but your choice to share your discovery with us now makes it all the more worthwhile. A month's travel through desert land would have been a bit excessive for any sort of trade or barter. We don't _need_ anything thatbadly, you understand. But if this Hyrule is, as you say, just a stone's throw away, we could be looking at a new age of global commerce and understanding."

"That's my hope, too," Rigo agreed.

"How long will it be before we can see this in action?" Bennet asked.

Rigo sighed. "I really couldn't say just yet. We're not in the workable stages, yet. Just ideas and prototypes. As soon as we can move forward with something tangible, I'll bring you into the loop."

"And I'll look forward to that, Rigo," Bennet said. "Moving forward, we have only one other piece of business this morning, a rather uncomfortable piece of business at that. That would be the Gerudo girl we currently have in a holding cell here in the city. She gives her name as Silint?"

Rigo nodded. He was familiar with the girl, a young adolescent who had a penchant for trouble around the pueblo. A streak, Rigo had to admit, he was all too familiar with. "May I ask why she was arrested?"

"She was discovered pilfering several pieces of valuable jewelry out of a hotel room that was not hers," Bennet said. "Normally I wouldn't be involved in minor criminal proceedings, but being as the girl is Gerudo, I thought it best to bring this up to you now before this goes any further."

"Thank you," Rigo said. "I appreciate you being so transparent."

"Least I can do, Your Highness. Least I can do. Now given the young _age _of the girl, there is a short minimal sentence that would typically be carried out for attempted robbery. Incarceration, you understand? But I'm not looking to spark an international _incident_ over something like this. Maybe if you were willing to pay a small _fine _to cover reparations and consolations, we could just slide this under the…"

"What's the sentence?" Rigo asked, cutting the man off.

"Well, two months, effective the date of the arrest."

"Let her serve it," Rigo said. Kerenn's eyes shot over to him, but to her credit, she didn't say anything out loud to contradict her King. He pretended not to notice her surprise.

Bennet seemed to not expect this response either, though. "Just like that?" he asked.

"Just like that," Rigo said. "I don't intend to obstruct Jirin from enforcing justice within its own borders. I agree with the sentence. She can carry it out."

"Uhm, alright," Bennet said. He looked a little disappointed that he wouldn't be getting any money out of this. "Very well. If that's all, then I think today's business has ended."

The pair concluded with the minor formalities and chit-chat that came at the close of all of these sorts of meetings and shook each other's hands. Rigo and Kerenn were left to see themselves out of the reception hall and strode out into the streets of the city. Rigo was always struck by how much more casually diplomacy was carried out in Jirin than it was in Hyrule. In Hyrule, you had to go through channels. You had to be escorted everywhere. Everything had to be approved by the Queen and six other people before it could be executed. Here, a handshake and verbal understanding with Bennet and they could agree on just about anything. In many ways, he liked this better.

When they were out of earshot of the capital and moving along the road toward the edge of town, Rigo spoke up to Kerenn.

"You have something you want to say."

"It's not really my station to question your decisions, Your Highness," Kerenn said.

"Kerenn, if it's _anyone's _station, it's yours. What's up?"

"Really?"

"Of course."

Kerenn smirked. Their conversations were always so easy, and Rigo appreciated the nature of it immensely. These days there were so few people around that he could just be straightforward and social with. Now that he was King, most people saw him as this enormous, untouchable figure. He needed this sort of rapport to remember that he was still Gerudo, just like the rest of them.

"I don't understand why you're letting them keep Silint in prison. Her mother could have paid a fine."

"You're right, she could have," Rigo agreed.

"Hell, she could have paid it in money _stolen _from Jirin. It wouldn't really cost us anything."

"You're right," Rigo said again.

"So why are you letting them keep her prisoner? It's like your punishing her for stealing."

"No, that's the thing, Kerenn," Rigo answered. "She's not being punished for stealing."

"What's she being punished for, then?"

"Getting caught," Rigo clarified.

Kerenn seemed to think on this, so Rigo went on. "We're thieves, not criminals. The only difference between the two is that a criminal is guilty."

"But isn't two months a bit excessive?"

Rigo considered his own formative period. When he'd been preparing to take on the burden of the crown, he'd been beaten, outcast, starved, blown up, imprisoned (for years), almost murdered, and forced into a war that cost him hundreds of his people. So two months?

"No, I don't think it's excessive," he resolved. "It's enough of a repercussion that she'll be more careful next time. It'll only serve to make her a better thief.

Kerenn sighed. "I'm not sure I really agree with you when it comes to discipline."

"Well, the pueblo will be yours tomorrow," Rigo said. "You can haggle with the Jirin then if you really think it's the right thing to do."

She smiled. "No, I wouldn't just stomp on your decision like that," she said, trailing off. "You're really leaving tonight?"

"As early as I can," Rigo confirmed.

"How long will you be in Hyrule?"

"Shouldn't be more than a few weeks. Why do you sound like you're getting cold feet here? It's not like you haven't taken acting command before."

"Yeah, but I never _like _it," Kerenn said. "Being on the top, being the person that everyone looks to for the answers to their problems it's…"

"…it's something you never really get used to," Rigo finished. "But you do a fine job of it. And besides, there's not much happening here on _this _end of things."

"Nope, I guess you're going where the action is."

"That's right," Rigo said. He stopped for a moment and tapped her on the shoulder. The wind was picking up the dust on the rocky crags around them. Another half mile, and they'd be in the sand of the desert. This whole country really was quite desolate.

"You're doing fine. Really. Stop worrying, okay?"

Her shoulders released a bit. Rigo knew that words of reassurance from Rigo went a long way with her. It was still something he was getting used to, the kind of influence he pulled with his people, but he understood it was there, and understood how to use it when necessary.

"Thanks, Rigo. Okay. I will."

The two of them made their way back to the pueblo as the sun climbed higher in the sky, and Rigo practically glowed with anticipation. Just a few more hours and as far as he was concerned, everything would be right in the world. He couldn't wait.


	3. The Shortcut

**Tears of Twilight  
Chapter 3: The Shortcut  
**By, Frank Hunter

The rest of the day's responsibilities dragged, and Rigo felt as though the sun were deliberately hanging in the sky, making time itself flow slower than normal. But when, at last, everything seemed to be running smoothly and Kerenn was ready to take over the burden of leadership in New Gerudo, he retreated to his quarters for the journey back to Hyrule.

What he'd told Bennet had been the truth. Though the road was long across the desert, a way had indeed been found to make the trip in the blink of an eye. Rigo shouldered a small sack of gear he'd prepared the previous night and pulled the single item that would make the trip possible from its safe place beside his bed.

The item looked unexceptional, like nothing more than a stalk of old bamboo with holes carved into it. But it was, in actuality, a very intricately designed flute that produced a tone which resonated on the frequency of…something big and important, probably. Rigo wished, not for the first time, that he'd had the chance to learn more about the instrument when he'd gotten it. It had been given to him as a gift, following the incident with the Waters of Nayru, by none other than the Hero of Time himself, Link. Link had taught him, by playing his own ocarina, of a song that could be used to ease men's spirits and lighten the burden on their minds. He'd thought that had been a useful enough trick, but then Link had gone above and beyond, using the ocarina to magically transport an entire contingent of troops from isolation within the Lost Woods to the open grasslands of Hyrule Field, and that's when Rigo realized the true value of the gift.

Link had disappeared before Rigo could ask him any more about the songs and how they worked, but he suspected that this couldn't be of the Hero's own creation. This was a deep magic, nestled in the universe, which must have been set by beings bigger than the both of them. But despite his research, there were no details in the Gerudo libraries about magical songs and their properties. He knew it must have been inherently Hylian.

Rigo'd tried to put the puzzle out of his mind and tackle the task of running his kingdom, and it worked for a while. But the issue resurged when he failed to convince his people of the value of staying in Jirin. There was too much popular opinion among the Gerudo pushing for a return to Hyrule. They missed their homeland. They missed their native sacred ground, and their goddess's temple. But mostly, they longed for the freedom to just be where they wanted to be.

Rigo came to finally understand what Amili had told him during their adventure: that the Gerudo would not be satisfied until the return to Hyrule was done. That Jirin would never, in their minds, be home. He had to come to terms with that. And once he did, he had to start taking steps to make it happen.

That was pretense enough for a return trip to Hyrule. Under the guise of meeting with Queen Zelda to discuss his plans, he had a reason to visit Hyrule Castle. And once there, he finagled access to the Hylian library and began to discover tomes of writings by the ancient "composer brothers," Sharp and Flat, bondsmen to the Royal Family. The two had written several songs linked to places of power that were recorded as nothing more than delicate and beautiful symphonies, but when he turned to the one dedicated to the rolling expanses of Hyrule Field and read it over, playing it in his mind, the carefree melody of Link's song came back to him and he knew that he was on the right track. When he found a composition entitled "Song of Spirit", his mind turned to the Spirit Temple, known to the Hylians now as the Arbiter's Grounds and to the Gerudo as the Temple of the Sand Goddess. In short, it was a magical link to the deserts outside of Hyrule. It was exactly what his people would need to complete the trip.

Rigo had spent years practicing that song, working to get the notes and the timing just right. Everything needed to be perfect in order for the magic to work, and music was never his strong suit. But in those years, he had made the trip between Jirin and Hyrule several times, and had begun bringing the more capable of his Gerudo with him. Together they'd established a colony on top of the old pueblo in Gerudo Valley, and the colonists, led by the one person Rigo trusted most of all, dedicated themselves to reconstructing and reinforcing the pueblo into a livable, habitable place again. Once they were finished, and once Rigo had mastered the intricacies of the Song of Spirit, the whole of their people would follow suit, and Jirin would become nothing more than a memory.

Thus far, Rigo had successfully made the journey by song only once. He'd intended to take a small group with him, but accidentally found himself materialized in Hyrule alone. That had been a terrifying few weeks for the people of Gerudo, worrying that their King had magicked himself out of existence. The riders that came from Jirin looking for him had actually made the trip in record time by camel. But precisely that was the reason for his visit now: to practice, over a short distance, transporting multiple people with the song. If he could manage to do it from the colony, then he could do it from Jirin too, and they would at last be ready.

Rigo raised the flute to his lips, enjoying, as he always did, the taste of the wood in his mouth. He shifted his shoulder to ensure that his bag was secure, and began to play the notes of the song he had come to know so well.

The music echoed in the chamber around him, coming together in a song so haunting and beautiful that it touched him every time. The very soul of the desert was in those notes, dark, shifting, and remorseless. Rigo let the feeling of it fill him until his eyes went gray and his skin began to feel tiny pinpricks, like grains of sand striking his skin. He closed his eyelids against the desert's onslaught and kept fingering the notes of the song until it was over, and when it was over, the sandstorm settled, and when Rigo opened his eyes again, he found he had been lifted from his room and was now sitting on a familiar stone stairwell. A glance behind him revealed the tall, soaring obelisk of the Temple's main tower, and the entranceway to the vestibule, now caved in by rocks and stone that had been blown loose years ago, save for a small opening in the top-left corner that was barely big enough for a child.

Back in Hyrule, then. And with nary a complication.

Rigo took a deep breath and turned, getting on his way. He didn't want to linger in this place. There was no business here. What he wanted was to get to the colony before nightfall, and he thought, with just the right amount of hustle, he would be able to pull it off. He dreamed of the banquet that waited for him there, of the warmth and hope and promise of a new generation striving to rebuilt what's theirs. He dreamt of the progress.

He couldn't have been more delusioned.


	4. Trouble in Paradise

**Tears of Twilight  
Chapter 4: Trouble in Paradise  
**By, Frank Hunter

The sky was just beginning to darken when Rigo turned the final corner of Gerudo Valley, the land opening up to the pueblo he'd known was concealed within. From several windows, firelight flickered out into the night, teasing the warmth and comfort that waited for him within. It was amazing, in just the few years they had been working at it, how capably the place had begun to feel less like a dilapidated scar on their race's history and more and more like a real home.

Rigo made for the closest entrance. It stood vacant, but he knew that he had not arrived unnoticed. There were always sentries and guards on lookout atop the pueblo, and even if it was too dark for him to see them there, they would have had no problem watching for _him_ as he trudged up to the building. Sure enough, by the time he entered and turned through his second corridor, making his way into a large, communal living space, he was ambushed with a hug that almost knocked him on his back.

He shook off the fight-or-flight response that instinctually threatened to kick in, having to remind himself that a fight wasn't in the cards here. That he was in a place of peace. His hands, instead of coming up into a martial defense, instead wrapped around the person who had lunged at him, pulling her closer. He hugged her right back, burying his nose in her hair and breathing deeply, taking her in. Oh, he missed her so much.

"I'm so glad you made it," Amili said to him softly.

Rigo let out a soft laugh. "Good to see you, too," he answered faking nonchalance.

Rigo shot a glance over her shoulder. The living area was empty. They were alone in the room. That, of course, would have to be the case. Amili only let her emotions run when there was no one there to see her. Publicly, she was a powerful, striking woman. The very definition of diplomacy and leadership. In Rigo's absence, the Gerudo had followed her as Stewardess, taking up arms alongside her and rebelling against the corrupt Sooru, who had tried to kill Rigo in the first place. Amili had only been a teenager, but even then, her intelligence and presence were so powerful that she had commanded the allegiance of an entire race.

It was exactly why Rigo had known that she alone would have the charisma to ensure the recolonization of Gerudo Valley stayed on track, while he himself stayed behind to see after the majority of their people's day-to-day governance. Why he tolerated being apart from her for so long and so far. The Gerudo did not have a system in place for marriages. As all of them, save for their King, were female, there was no need for such an institution. But if there had been, following the incident with the Waters of Nayru, Amili would have become his Queen.

Rigo tried to step back from the hug, but Amili held fast in what felt like desperation, not letting him go. He began to grow slightly concerned. It wasn't like her to be so dependent. And come to think of it, the emptiness of the living space at this time of the evening was unusual as well. There was a weird vibe here.

"Is everything alright?" he ventured, failing to keep the concern from his voice.

"Shh," Amili whispered, hushing him. "Just hold me. Just let me have a minute of peace."

Peace? Was that to imply that she hadn't been at peace before? A million questions bubbled to the surface of Rigo's mind at once, but he forced himself to mind her request. He didn't ask her anything. Just held her tightly for that minute she'd asked for, though it wound up feeling more like two or three. When she finally pulled away from him, there were tears streaming down her face.

This was also a sight he wasn't used to. Something so foreign he almost didn't recognize it.

"Ami," he said to her stolidly, placing his hands on her shoulders. "You're scaring me. What's going on?"

She took a deep breath to try to steady herself, but shook her head, eyes tight and red. "I don't know," she said.

"You've gotta give me a little more than that," Rigo told her. "What did you mean about needing peace? Are we under attack? Do we need to get out of here?"

She shook her head again.

He didn't know what else to do. What could have put her in such a state? "What's going on?" he asked again, for lack of anything else.

"It's the _colonists_," Amili got out through a choked sob. "Something's _happening_ to them. Something scary."

"Can you tell me what it is?" Rigo prompted her.

"No, I don't…"

"Can you _show_ me?" he cut in.

Amili inhaled again, seemed to visibly steel herself, and nodded. She wiped the tears from her face and clenched her fists. Rigo had seen her do this a million times. She was getting into public mode. Getting ready to face the people and put on the image that they all would follow. Seeing her do it felt like a million pounds lifted from his shoulders at once. The very fact that she _could_ seemed to make the situation, whatever it was, seem more manageable.

Amili turned toward a side corridor and took his hand in hers. "It's this way," she said, leading him onward. The halls were dark, lit by very scarce firelight that left ominous shadows around every turn.

"I've been trying to keep on top of this," she said. "But it's getting so bad, I don't know what to do anymore."

"Where is everyone?" Rigo asked her. "With the last party to arrive, you should have about a hundred people here, right?"

"Most of them are locked in their rooms. They won't come out, except for the essentials," she said.

"What about work?" Rigo asked.

Amili shook her head one more time. "Work's stopped."

Rigo blinked. "Like, _stop_ stopped? No one's repairing this place?"

"You don't understand, Rigo," Amili said. "They're afraid. They don't want to _catch_ it."

The words resonated through him as though from a gong. "Catch it? Are the colonists getting sick?"

"Yes," Amili answered, but she quickly corrected herself. "No. I don't know. We can't figure out what's going on, and I can't ask the people to expose themselves unless we know what we're dealing with. How to protect against it."

As they turned another corner, Rigo began to hear an echoing sound from up ahead. It sounded like a wailing reverberation through the adobe halls. The kinds of sounds kids might make when impersonating ghosts.

"What's that noise?" he asked.

"I've got the ones who've contracted it quarantined in the back," Amili went on. "It's the only thing I can do for right now, but we're running out of supplies, and without organization here, we're gonna be dry within a matter of days."

"When did this start?" Rigo asked.

"Just a few weeks ago. We had two cases that first week, but now it's spread to about a quarter of us. And we have no idea how."

As they closed the distance to the quarantine, the sounds of wailing became more and more distinct. Rigo could begin to pick them out as individual cries and screams of the Gerudo women who were tucked away here. It set his hair on end.

"This is gonna be a little unnerving," Amili said, seeming to warn herself as much as to warn him.

"Yeah," Rigo said, not sure how else to respond. The two stepped up to a canvas curtain that covered a doorway. The screams were coming from inside this room.

Without taking time to think about it, Amili pushed aside the curtain and strode in. Rigo came right behind her.

The first thing that struck him was how loud it was in close quarters. In the room itself, the screams were deafening. Cots lined the walls opposite each other, about two dozen in total. And in each of them, _tied_ to each of them, was a Gerudo woman. They were all screaming, yelling, some of them crying. Rigo just stood and stared in utter shock. What the hell was this? What had happened to them?

He tried to make out what some of them were saying. Most of it seemed like gibberish and complete nonsense.

"IT'S NOT BLUE, IT CAN'T BE BLUE IF IT'S MELTING!" came one of the voices from his left.

"GETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUT!" came another from across the way.

"OH GODDESS!" screamed yet another, followed by a piercing shriek that went on for as long as she had breath.

Several more of the Gerudo were just rasping and wheezing in place. These ones, also more emaciated than the others, had obviously been here the longest. They had screamed themselves out of a voice. Their bodies had reduced to skin and bones. Rigo could see the joints of their elbows poking at their skin, the outlines of their skeletons beneath their skin wherever flesh showed. It was horrific.

He almost didn't notice the woman who had been sitting there with them until she got up and came over to them. When she was right in front of him, Rigo recognized her as Selen, Amili's self-chosen second-in-command.

Selen yelled something at them that they couldn't hear over the din of screaming Gerudo. Rigo shrugged his shoulders and yelled back, "What!?"Selen gritted her teeth and put a hand on both Rigo and Amili's chests, pushing them backward, out of the room.

Once through the curtain and out of the immediate vicinity of the sick, Selen stopped and pulled her hands back, raising them before her as though trying to indicate that she'd meant no harm.

"King Rigo," she said. "M'lady. I'm sorry, but you two should not be exposing yourselves to them."

"I know, Selen," Amili answered. "But Rigo needed to see it firsthand."

Selen started to nod, but resigned to a simple shrug and a sigh. "Just stay out of there, alright? We can't let you become infected, too."

"Infected?" Rigo asked. "You can catch this by being near them?"

Selen looked at Amili and then back to Rigo in a single heartbeat. "I don't know," she said. "You're seeing everything we've seen."

"How'd they get this way?" Rigo asked.

"Well it starts small," Selen told him. "They complain of headaches, or a buzzing between their ears that doesn't go away. We thought it was some kind of psychological stress thing at first, you know, from being so far from home? But when the first several started talking to themselves, we knew something was really wrong. They wouldn't, or _couldn't_, tell us themselves, but before we knew it they were reduced to…" She gestured behind her. "That."

"You tie them down?" Rigo asked.

Selen nodded. "We have to. They started…hurting themselves. They were hitting others. It was dangerous. We've tied them down, and I'm trying to keep getting them food and water. But there are so many of them now, and they don't want to eat." Her hands dropped uselessly to her sides. "I'm doing everything I can."

"Aren't you afraid of…"

"Please don't say it," Selen cut him off. "Of course I am, but if someone doesn't take care of them, they'll all die. Someone has to stay with them."

Rigo was left speechless, not only by the tragedy in the room before him, but by the courage and selflessness shown by Selen in her willingness to care for them.

"If it's alright with you, Stewardess, I have a lot still to do tonight. I don't know anything more than you, anyway. If you can fill in King Rigo, I'd like to get back to…" she gestured behind her once more.

"Of course," Amili said. "Thank you, Selen."

Selen left them with a curt nod and pushed back into the infirmary.

Amili took Rigo's hand again and began leading him back the way they'd come, away from the cries of the ill. She was solemn now, as if in deep thought, wracking her brain for an answer that wouldn't come.

"What should we do?" she asked Rigo.

Rigo suspected he had even less of an idea than she had. Still, he felt it would be best for her if he at least maintained his composure. He didn't want to see her break down again.

"I take it you've already tried basic medicines with them? Herbs?" he asked.

She nodded. "No effect whatsoever. Nothing works."

"You've tried any of the magical potions the Hylians are so fond of?"

"We've only got stores of a red potion they use to heal injury," she told him. "We had a little vial of some blue one that's also supposed to work on a magical level, but yeah, we tried both. The blue one is gone now, and neither one helped with this."

Rigo ran his fingers through his curly hair, wishing he had an answer. "All I can think of," he concluded, "is that maybe the Hylians have seen this before. Maybe they would know what to do. Have you sought out their help?"

The question seemed to make Amili jerk, suddenly remembering something she had forgotten. She stopped Rigo and had him turn to face her.

"No," she said. "I haven't been able to leave the people here alone. And we've only had one visitor from Hyrule since this started. A messenger, from the Royal Family. I'd almost forgot."

She reached into her tunic and pulled out an envelope. It was an official looking letter on yellow parchment paper with a red wax seal depicting the Hyrule Royal Family's crest on the back of it. The side of it was torn open into a jagged maw.

"I opened it," Amili said. "I'm sorry, but I wasn't sure when you'd be getting here." She let out a short cough of a laugh. "Anyway, it looks like they've got their own problems to deal with down there."

Rigo pulled the letter out from the envelope and opened up the trifold. He moved a few steps down the hall, closer to one of the lanterns that currently burned, lighting the way. By its light, he read what was written on the parchment in clean, black ink.

_To His Majesty, King Rigo of the Gerudo Tribe,_

_Dear Rigo,_

_I am hoping this letter finds you well. I am no longer certain who I am able to trust._

_There is a situation within the borders of our land with which I may require aid, and given the current predicament, I am afraid you may be our only option. Recently, the Royal Family and the very Hylian way of life have come under attack by a group of radicals calling themselves the 'Tears of Twilight.' This organization has proven most adept at operating within the shadows, and has been responsible for numerous acts of vandalism, sedition, and murder within Hyrule Castle Town and in the lands beyond._

_Efforts to call the Hylian Guard against this group have proven fruitless, as they appear to have infiltrated the Guard itself and are remaining one step ahead of all orders dispatched against them. I suspect that their agents go all the way to the top, and my ability to ensure security within my own kingdom is becoming compromised. _

_As an ally to the Throne of Hyrule, I am asking your aid in responding to this problem. Your Gerudo are an element that exists outside the boundaries of our kingdom, and I expect that you therefore remain free from influence by the Tears of Twilight. Any assistance you can spare toward the goal of seeking out and stopping this group would be greatly appreciated. This, by the way, I strongly suspect is the organization behind that problem you aided me with four years ago._

_I fear I have already taken too much of a risk by being so open in my writing. I would prefer to discuss this further with you in person. If you can make the journey to Hyrule Castle as soon as possible, I would view it as a personal favor to me. I reiterate that any support available will be appreciated at this time._

_Best regards,_

_Queen Zelda Alexandria Hyrule, XXII_

Rigo finished reading the letter, and then read it a second time. He couldn't believe it. She was asking for help _now_? She'd never asked before, although she'd mentioned in the early days of their relationship that this might be a possibility. Still, if the situation were only getting serious now, he wasn't sure how much he would be able to do about it.

"You didn't answer this?" Rigo asked Amili.

"No," Amili answered. "It came in two days ago addressed to you, and I've never spoken to Zelda. I figured if you didn't turn up in the next few days I'd make the trip, but I've had my hands full here."

"That's fine," Rigo said.

"What do you want to do?" Amili asked. "We can't send them our people right now. There's too much about this disease we still don't know."

"You're right," Rigo said, folding the paper up and tucking it into a fold of his own tunic. "But maybe they do."

"You…you think they might be willing to trade with us?" Amili asked. Rigo could hear the hope climbing into her voice.

"I have no idea," he said, working to keep a level of realism here. It wouldn't help to get their hopes up over speculation. "But it's possible the Hylians have seen this before. It's possible they have some kind of magical cure. If I tell Zelda what the problem is, I can offer to help solve hers if she can help solve ours. It's worth a shot."

"You're not going yet, are you?" Amili asked.

"No," Rigo reassured her. "The path is dangerous at night. I'll leave as soon as the sun rises. You'll stay to look after the people when I do?"

Amili nodded. "I'll go door to door. Let them know that you're here, that you're looking for the cure. It may give them a little hope."

"Alright," Rigo said to her. "That's a good idea. A little hope can sometimes be the best thing in the world."

The two of them came together in another embrace. At least through all of this, Rigo figured, they had each other. They could help keep each other strong, and together, they could keep the others strong. At least until they figured out what was causing this weird illness.

"Just make sure to be careful," Amili whispered. "If the situation down there is as bad as Zelda thinks it is, then it might be dangerous for us. Hyrule may no longer be safe."


	5. Soul Sickness

**Tears of Twilight  
Chapter 5: Soul Sickness  
**By, Frank Hunter

In the years since Rigo's first trip to Hyrule, which had culminated in a thirty-story fall into Lake Hylia, a permanent ramp had been carved into the cliff face east of the lake, which wound down from the desert to the lush lakebed below. When it had become clear that relations with the Hylians would be ongoing and sociable, the Gerudo took on that undertaking, with a little help from Fyer, the cannon man that lived at the lake. The man was a whiz with explosives and for a few rupees he could be convinced to blow anything into anything.

Rigo didn't stop to see the cannon man today though. As he passed the man's shop though, he did notice a crudely painted wooden sign on the front door. "CLOSED FOR BUSINESS" it stated. "REOPEN WHEN SENSIBLE."

The sign gave Rigo brief pause. It was odd phrasing, not very inviting and quite vague. "When sensible"? He wrapped his traveling cloak around him and watched his breath steam into the cool morning air. He supposed business at this time of year might be a little slow. But always before, come rain or shine, he'd seen the old man sitting in front of his shack, fishing for the customers he could find. He wouldn't have expected Fyer to close for anything.

He decided not to dwell. He had more pressing concerns at the moment.

He pressed deeper into Hyrule and felt oddly naked as he did. This was the first time, since the construction of the trail, that he had walked it alone. As King, these days he was always flanked by companions, dignitaries, and bodyguards. And Amili, when she could help it. Walking alone brought on a mild sense of agoraphobia when he thought about it, but he immediately pushed that away. He was by himself because it would have been cruel to force the scared and sick colonists of Gerudo Valley to accompany him into unknown territory. Rigo knew that as King, it was his right to command whatever he wanted out of his subjects. But he also knew that just because it _was_ his right, that did not _make_ it right.

Rigo alone amongst the Gerudo was comfortable moving in and out of Hyrule on business. There had been generations worth of stories and propaganda perpetuated amongst his people since the Ganondorf Wars ended, all turning their minds against the citizens of this land. Though the Gerudo _had_ made progress in pushing through the decades of mental conditioning in the interest of progressing their society and reclaiming their home, it wasn't precisely easy on them to deal with Hylians on a regular basis.

But he wished that weren't the case.

As Rigo stepped out onto the emerald green Hyrule Field and saw the Castle keep standing tall in the distance, the magnificence of it washed over him. The Gerudo do miss out on something, though. Ignoring the beauty of this place. Choosing instead to see it through the filtered eyes of long-time adversaries. The desert, of course, would always be home. Rigo would always be loyal to his home, his people, his way of life. But it's like having a favorite meal. Just because he loved the one didn't mean he couldn't appreciate others for what they were. And even partake from time to time.

He kept himself lost in such daydreams for the duration of the trip, trying hard to keep his mind from the actual problems at hand. Truth told, the state of Amili and the Gerudo colonists had shaken him greatly, but with no clear solution at hand, he had to stop from letting his thoughts drift into dark places, from wondering what would happen if they couldn't cure this epidemic. He just hoped things would become clearer once he spoke to Zelda.

As he stepped into Castle Town though, that hope immediately began to diminish.

The first thing he encountered as he stepped onto the drawbridge was a small battalion of Hylian soldiers stationed at the gate. Usually, they set one or two men to keep watch for potential trouble at each entrance to the city. Today, Rigo counted eight. It was a show of intimidation, that much was obvious, but he didn't slow in the slightest. He was here by invitation and brought no ill will. The guards would know him, also. As he was Gerudo, his features were darker, sharper, and more distinct than those of a common Hylian. Even if he hadn't become a celebrity through the Waters of Nayru incident, he would have always been treated as a more special visitor.

As he approached the gate though, one of the guards, an older man with an upturned moustache, stepped out to meet him, holding a hand out toward him as though meaning to bar his way.

"That'll be far enough," the guard said. "No further."

Rigo felt a spark of his old temper flare up in response to this man's casual interference, but followed the usual mental channels of practice he used these days to push it down. There was no place for angry outbursts in diplomacy, and Rigo had to be diplomatic. It was an important part of being a monarch.

Of course, that didn't mean he had to be _entirely_ professional.

He didn't halt immediately as he reached the guard, instead deliberately misunderstanding the outstretched hand as a gesture of welcome. Rigo reached out his own hand as the distance between them closed, took the guard's in his, and shook vigorously.

"Good to see you as well," he answered as amicably as he could. "Major…er, Corporal? Commander?"

"Sergeant," the man puffed back.

"Sergeant it is," Rigo said. He gestured back at himself. "I'm Rigo, King and Sovereign of the Gerudo tribe of the desert. I've come for an audience with the Royal Family."

"I know who you are," the Sergeant replied curtly. "There will be no audience with them today, King Rigo. I'm sorry for the disappointment."

Rigo could tell from his tone that he wasn't. "Can I ask why not?"

"No," he said. "It's not my place to discuss the Royal Family's business with outsiders. I'm sorry."

"You keep saying that," Rigo said.

The Sergeant fixed him with a glare. "I'm sorry."

Rigo sighed, reached into the folds of his tunic and pulled out the envelope that Zelda's letter had come in. Her was seal was still unbroken on the back and clear as day. "I was summoned here not three days ago by Queen Zelda herself, on request that we speak about a matter of Hylian national security."

The Sergeant scoffed as he took the envelope and looked at the seal. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"

Joke? Rigo squinted at him trying to understand if that question itself had been a joke. "Am I missing something here?"

The guard spread the torn opening of the envelope and glanced inside for any other content. "Where's the letter?"

"The letter was private," Rigo told him. "I'd discuss it only with the Queen."

He looked at Rigo skeptically for a long moment, but the Gerudo stared him down. In the end, his shoulders slumped in resignation and he called another of the guards up to join him. He handed the other, younger man the envelope.

"Run this to the Castle. Tell them King Rigo of the Gerudo is here for them. Ask if they're willing to admit him entry."

"Yes, sir."

"Talk to Queen Zelda please," Rigo insisted. "She'll confirm she sent for me."

The young runner stammered for a moment as if deciding whether to acknowledge it, but settled just to nod and head back through the gate. This left Rigo on the drawbridge with the Sergeant for a long while, who seemed unwilling to leave RIgo there alone, or to invite him further in to the guardhouse to sit down. Instead, they just stood awkwardly, without much to say to one another.

"Any chance the horse races will be starting up soon?" Rigo asked, trying to break the tension. The guard just stared at him with mounting indifference.

"I like to watch," Rigo went on. "Your country really does a very nice job with the thoroughbreds. They're fantastic. Really not like anything I've seen elsewhere."

One-sided and half-hearted as it was, the conversation quickly crashed and burned. Rigo took to simply pacing while he waited, frustrated with the seemingly undue delay and greatly looking forward to the gratification that would come when he finally received permission to continue onward.

After what felt like hours, the young runner came back to the drawbridge, envelope in hand.

"They said he can come in," the runner said. "They want him there."

Rigo gave the Sergeant a smug look, but the man didn't look like his sensibilities had been offended in the slightest. He looked instead as though he really had just been doing his job.

"Alright, Jacobs," he said. "You'll lead him back to the Castle." He turned and addressed Rigo, more formally now that he had permission to be on premesis. "Your Highness, I ask that you remain with Private Jacobs on your way to the Castle and within its walls. He will be your escort. Do not stray from the path. Do not try to walk off on your own. And _do not_ enter any marked areas. Do you understand?"

Rigo raised an eyebrow at the stern, unusual instructions. "Yeah, that's fine," he said.

With a salute from the Private, they were off, and Rigo crossed through the guard station into Castle Town proper. As he did, he noticed two more guards he hadn't seen before, on the overpass. Both had bows drawn, and were aiming down the drawbridge. Down to where he had been standing not moments before. If he'd even thought of trying something…Jeez, would they have shot him?

What the hell was going on here?

"Hey kid," he asked Jacobs when they got out of earshot of the guard tower. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Sorry sir," Jacobs told him. "I'm not really authorized to talk about it."

The perfect answer for a perfect subordinate. "Off the record, Private," Rigo asked, a note of insistence creeping into his voice. "Seriously. You guys are acting like someone died."

"There's…been a lot of that sort of thing lately," Jacobs answered. That just raised more questions. Rigo was about to ask what he meant by that, but before he could get it out, the first real indication of how grave this situation had become turned up.

As they walked down the main cross street of Castle Town, and as another small squad of soldiers marched up back the way they'd come, Rigo and Jacobs passed by a small alley. These alleyways, Rigo knew, led to many of the residential apartments and homes of the regular citizens of Castle Town. This one was barricaded off by thick wooden beams, with a sentry on either side. A sign posted to the beams advertised clear as day what this was all about. And as Rigo read it, his heart sank.

**SOUL SICKNESS AHEAD  
****TURN BACK**

"What is that?" Rigo asked, dreading the answer.

Jacobs glanced over at the alley with a weary look in his eye. One of the sentries nodded at him in acknowledgment as they walked past.

"It's quarantine," Jacobs said. "For the plague."

"Soul Sickness?" Rigo asked.

"You've heard of it?" Jacobs asked.

"I…" Rigo didn't know how to answer. As he stumbled to find his words, the wind picked up from out of the alley. The sound came to him, muffled but audible, of screams. Human screams from down in the alley. People, presumably in their homes, or _someone's_ homes in the quarantine zone, shrieking at the tops of their lungs.

"Yeah," Rigo resolved. "I've seen it."

"They say there's no cure," the soldier told him. "People just keep getting sicker and sicker."

The statement was like a knife to Rigo's chest. No cure. If there was no cure, there was no reason for him to be here. He had nothing to offer the Queen if his people were suffering from this condition and she had no way to treat it.

"What are you guys doing about it, then?" Rigo asked.

"Everything we can," he admitted, which in military speak usually meant nothing at all. Rigo guessed the quarantine zones were probably the guards' only active idea for containing the spread of the disease. But the Gerudo were already attempting the same thing. He needed more than that.

Before he could press any further, he heard an earsplitting whistle go off behind him. The sound was piercing, chewing at his eardrum as though it had its own teeth. He flinched and whipped back around at it in time to see something odd. A satchel was lobbed off the rooftop of one of the buildings behind him. The figure who'd thrown it didn't stick around, he bolted as it was still in the air, but Rigo'd just had time to catch a glimpse of a brown overcoat disappear back down into the quarantine zone before it was gone entirely.

The satchel the man had thrown was unfastened and as it spun through the air paper began flying out in every direction, drifting along on the breeze. They began dispersing along the street, several blown harmlessly out toward the field, a large portion of them dropping to the ground with the bag itself, and many more drifting over toward Rigo and Jacobs.

As the pamphlets settled at their feet and blew past them, Jacobs took a few anxious steps back in the direction of the thrower. The two sentries on guard had left their posts and ran into the quarantine zone, presumably to try and capture the individual who's thrown the satchel. Rigo wondered if they were, strictly speaking, permitted to do that, but based on how antsy Jacobs was to join them, he guessed this was a big deal.

His curiosity got the better of him, and while Jacobs was distracted, he bent down and picked up one of the papers. He read it.

It was a mass-produced, typeset document. Propaganda, it looked like, calling out the Royal Family on its failures and promising retribution. Retribution that would come, apparently, from the just and noble "Tears of Twilight" organization.

So, it really had gotten bad. _This _was why Zelda had called him. They had dissidents running around Castle Town itself, and no real way to stop them. Rigo guessed the majority of the Hylian military force was preoccupied, responding to the stresses introduced by the outbreak of Soul Sickness. He wondered if they had the muscle to come down hard on the Tears of Twilight, even if they weren't concerned with espionage and corruption within their ranks.

Jacobs seemed to come to terms with the fact that he couldn't give chase after the Twilight member just then and turned back to Rigo, noticing the pamphlet in his hand.

"You should ignore that, sir," he said, reaching out and taking the flyer away. He crumpled it up and tucked it into a pocket. Rigo noticed the few people that _were_ on the street were very pointedly ignoring and ducking around the flyers that had been dropped, not so much as looking at them, much less stopping to pick them up. This situation had everyone nervous.

"Who was that?" Rigo asked, hoping for at least a little bit of insight.

"They're terrorists," Jacobs answered, beckoning for Rigo to follow him and get moving again.

As they turned into the main plaza of Castle Town, Rigo found himself studying the people around him more closely. He realized, as he passed them by, that there were significantly more soldiers out here than there were civilians. The population was scarce, but most of it was military. This _was_ them responding to the Tears of Twilight situation.

"A group of subversives taking advantage of the plague to spread their message," Jacobs went on. "It's disgusting."

"They only showed up after the Soul Sickness spread?" Rigo asked.

"No, we guess they were around before that. Organizing and whatnot. They're definitely organized. But they only started the stuff like this once we got preoccupied. Sometimes they do a lot worse." He seemed to catch himself and stumble for a step or two. "But I probably shouldn't be talking to you about this sort of thing. We'll be at the Castle soon."

"Yeah, alright," Rigo answered. The shut-down was fine. He'd already learned more than he'd expected from this Private, and was disheartened enough by the shape Hyrule was currently in. In his heart, he was really just looking forward to getting this meeting over with so he could get back to Amili. There was a lot they'd need to do, and it would need to be done quickly. First thing's first would be to get a message back to Jirin as soon as possible. They'd need to bring additional medics and healers to Gerudo Valley immediately. If there was a way to treat this illness, they'd need the people capable of finding it on hand. And even that would take too long for comfort.

The grand gates before the Castle were opened as they approached, the guards on duty evidently forewarned of Rigo's arrival. They did not stop to talk or check in. Jacobs just led onward, through the empty courtyard and into the entry hall.

"I need to see Zelda," Rigo reiterated for him once they were inside.

"That's fine," Jacobs said, as he took a left and led Rigo toward a wing he'd never been in before. "I'll take you to her first."

"First?" Rigo asked, confused. He had no interest in talking with anyone else here. "Where are we going? Throne room's that way, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir. But the Queen will be through here."

A few more twists and turns through ornate, decorated hallways, over soft red carpets and white marble floors, past sculptures and paintings of every style and variety, and they finally arrived at what Rigo expected was their destination. It was a pair of decoratively carved wooden doors, stained dark and beveled at the top.

"I'll wait with you until you're done," Jacobs said.

"Uh, thanks, but that's fine," Rigo said. "I really don't need an escort. I've met with the Queen before. You can get back to your post I'm sure."

"These are my orders, sir."

Rigo thought to argue it further, but decided against it. If it was possible to remove the escort, he'd get Zelda to do it.

He stepped forward and pushed at the door. Its weight was considerable, but it was hinged well and the latch gave. With some effort, Rigo was able to push it in and step inside, followed closely by Jacobs.

Inside, what he found surprised him. The room appeared to be a chapel of faith. There were pews lined up regularly from where he had entered down to the front of the room, with a gap in the middle for walking. The room's windows were stained glass. Beautiful designs featuring gods and goddesses, several of the Royals, and of course, a certain green-clad Hero whom Rigo had had the pleasure of meeting once before.

At the front of the room, though, stood no minister or priest. Adorned above the pulpit was an enormous golden crest depicting the Triforce, the symbol of Hyrule's politics, religion, and culture, all rolled into one immortal icon. Below that, though, on the platform where Rigo might have expected a preacher of some denomination, there was nothing except a single box, set off on the sides by two burning candelabras. The box was of the same dark wood as the door, with the symbol of the Royal Family engraved on the side of it. Its lid was flipped open, and even from the back of the room, Rigo could see that the inside was lined with rich purple velvet. In the pews, he noticed a handful of scattered people dressed in black, who did not bother even acknowledging his entrance.

It took a few moments to set in, but the scenery, the layout. All of it could only mean a single thing.

"Oh, no…"

He forced himself to take one step up the aisle. Then two. And before long, at the end of his walk, he found himself before the box that he now realized was actually a casket. Inside lay the body of an old woman, still dressed in a beautiful white and pink gown. She was still glittered with all the adornments she'd worn in life. Her hands were folded over her breast and she lay still as if in a deep sleep.

Rigo's mouth opened and shut like a fish a few times before he got control over himself and just stood there. He didn't know what to feel. He didn't know what to say. He just stood there and stared at her body in disbelief, wondering if this was all some kind of cosmic prank. Because the truth of this was something he hadn't prepared for in his wildest dreams. He knew that maybe he should have, but he'd been so preoccupied. He hadn't had time. And now, here it lay. The cold, unescapable nature of it staring up at him through closed eyelids.

Queen Zelda had passed on.


End file.
